Dasey at the Alter
by GeekyLoveLorne
Summary: On the way to their reception, Derek asks Edwin about his nickname. Part of the Favor series. (Slightly Adult)
1. I'll Keep You Warm

_Here's something I've been planning for sometime. Shifting views from varies stories, both tie-ins and stand-alone, about the bickering pair._

 **I'll Keep You Warm**

Derek awake to a feeling of being trapped, was he still under the snow? Was she?

Pushing himself up as far as the weight on top of him would allow he tried to pierce through the darkness surrounding him. The area around was bigger than his car. Was it a room? He could see hints of light coming from two sides of the area, maybe a door and a window? Listening into the void, Derek heard the sound of chatter, the beep of a few machines, and was that someone else breathing? This had to be a hospital. _Okay Derek, what now?_

The weight shifted and Derek heard, "You're crazy, get back in here," words he had heard just before running for help.

The words sent him back to the events that had led to them. "Again? At your wedding? Real charming there Truman. And you, you're her cousin, Viki. How self-involved are you to be screwing Casey's groom just before they get married?" He had gone looking for Casey and had accidentally walked in on Viki and Truman. He had been struck with a scene of Deja vu despite the fact Casey had been the one who had done that last time and this time the cheating pair was further along.

Ten minutes later, after a brief fight and revealing to the wedding party what was going on, he had gotten into his rental to get some fresh air only for a panicked Casey, still in all her wedding glory to hop in after him. "Yea Nora, she's here. She jumped into my car without her phone, or a coat. We're going to drive around a little, then head back. That should give Charming and Cousin of the Year enough time to clear out. Nora? Nora? Dammit, I forgot to charge this thing."

Casey rubbed her exposed arms, trying to keep warm and asked, "Could this night get any worse?"

Cranking the heat up and directing it to her side, Derek answered, "You could've married the cheating bastard, Princess. You're not still marrying him after this, are you?" He cast a side glance as he asked this, taking in the sight of his step-sister. Her hair was held in a bun by silver pins done to look like scalpels. Her gown was doctor coat white with heart shaped lace that hugged her neck and the other curves of her upper body; the lower half being puffy and stopping just above her ankles. Luckily for her, she had been wearing fuzzy pink bunny slippers when the drama had begun; otherwise he suspected that the run down the salted stairs might have ruined her stockings.

Giving him a confused look, she answered, "Of course not."

Relieved to hear that he just replied, "Good."

"Good? Derek you almost seem glad that this happened." Casey shot back, hitting a little too close to the truth. He hadn't wanted this, but if something was to occur he was happy that it had been before the wedding and not after. This way was easier to clean up.

"He was never right for you, that just what I'm saying. You should've listened to me when I told you to say no." Derek decided to stick to the facts, if not the whole truth, and throw in the last real conversation they had in the past year to keep her distracted.

Casey demanded, "Who put you in charge of my love life?"

"Someone has to be, Case." was his reply.

"And that someone is you?" was hers.

"Yes." He deadpanned.

"Why is that?" Of course she would use her beautiful keener mind to try and find out why he had beaten her ex-fiancé worse than some of his hockey rivals.

Derek turned to Casey and forced out the well-rehearsed reason. "I have an invested interest; I'm... your step-brother." Stick to the facts Venturi, don't tell her that you hate that this wasn't your wedding day.

It was because he was looking at her that he saw her eyes widen in horror at something ahead of them. "DEREK THE ROAD!"

A patch of ice covered the ground, from one side to the other, a sign warning to turn back. "SHIT!" was his only response as he tried to regain control of the car as they sped through the barricade and over the frictionless surface. This proved useless as the car continued off the road and through the awaiting snow bank.

Derek switched the car into reverse and gunned the motor. Besides the tires whining, nothing happened. "Great we're stuck; I'll get out and push." This proved easier said than done as the door refused to move. "Uh, Case the door wouldn't budge."

"What! Let me try." Casey reached over and tried the door, Derek quickly throw his arms up and gave her all the space he could, hoping that she would not notice the stiffness of his expression. Getting the same result, she tried her own, then the ones in the back seat. "Dammit. This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life and I'm trapped in the middle of nowhere. With you."

Catching her eye in the rear-view mirror, Derek answered, "Nuh-uh McDonald, you're not putting this on me. I'm not the one who decided to get married in the mountains in the middle of winter."

Casey gave an informative, "its romantic, Derek," seeming to find the idea that it was crazy, crazy.

"Well Truman and Viki would agree with you on that." was his reply. The words coming out before he had time to consider them.

Casey shot him a hurt look, "Nice, Venturi, pour some more salt in the wound." She had been climbing into the front, but after that last comment she decided to stay in the back.

"Why not? If it wasn't this jerk it would be another. Your taste in men leaves something to be desired." Talking to Case through the mirror proved to make the words come easier. He had planned on having this discussion at the hotel, but the drama had changed the setting.

"Like your taste in women is any better? By the way, your date Rebecca was hitting on one of the waitresses when we left." was her response.

This caused Derek to chuckle, "Good for her."

"Good for her?" Casey asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Rebecca needs a rebound pound after getting dumped." he explained.

"You dumped your date at a wedding where she doesn't know anyone, real classy Derek. Maybe you and Truman can join a club for assholes." Casey responded, a hint of disgust in her voice. She gave a short shiver and began rubbing her arms again, the backseat being colder than the front.

Seeing her shaking, Derek switched the vents around and started directing the heat into the back. After a minute, when she seemed to be getting warmer, he answered. "I'm not that much of a bastard, Casey. Rebecca's a friend who needed to get away from her life and I wasn't going to your wedding alone."

"Alone? How can a CHL All Star not get a date?" his comment confusing her.

Turning around to stare Casey in the eye, he carefully explained, "By not looking."

Becoming more confused, Casey asked, "Not looking? Derek I've seen the people you hang out with, Rock stars, movie stars, pop icons. There is no way that you're ignoring all of them." Derek could tell from her face that she knew he was telling the truth, her Derek Bullshit Meter having been honed from their years of rivalry.

"Yes there is." Derek replied amending in his mind _I never got over you._ He shifted away from her and stared at the snow covered windshield, not wanting her to see the look of regret on his face. But he moved too quickly and he hit his knuckles on the passenger seat headrest, shooting a quick pain across his hand and causing him to curse in anger, "Dammit!"

"What?" Casey asked, leaning into the front to see what had caused the outburst.

Derek shaking the bruised hand, explained, "My knuckles still hurt from hitting Prince Charming."

Casey reached out to examine the bruise, "Let me look at it," only for him to keep moving it out of her grasp, "DER-EK, stop being a baby and let me look at it. How can you take hits from guys twice your size and yet treat me touching you like a vasectomy? I am a doctor, remember?" Derek didn't answer, not wanting explain it wasn't a pain but a pleasant joy for him.

Casey took the brief pause to grab his wrist and began looking the injury over, "What did he say anyway?"

"What?" Derek had looked away, not wanting to see the aqua blue of Casey's eyes focusing on a puzzle, something he had discovered as very alluring to him.

Casey tightened her grasp on him as she slipped down into the backseat floor trying to reach something under his seat, "What did my cheating beau say that made you crash him through a door?"

Derek cocked an eyebrow at what she was doing, "He made a comment about you being bad in bed."

Popping up with a first aid kit, she placed it on the spot beside her and started picking through it with her free hand, "You hit him over that?"

Derek rolled his eyes, _of course she would know there was a kit under there,_ he thought before responding, "No, I suggested that maybe he was the one poor in the sack and he asked if I was speaking from experience."

Casey raised an eyebrow as she grabbed some peroxide, cottons, and a wrap, "He thought we slept together?"

"Yep." was his only answer, not liking the way the conversation was heading.

"What gave him that idea?" she asked, unknowingly going further down the forbidden path. Completely oblivious to where the conversation was heading, she dropped the wrap onto the front passenger seat, spin the peroxide lid off with a flick of her thumb, flipped it around and dabbed the few cottons that she holding in the palm of her hand.

"Well, we were roommates in college," he answered, trying to not let her know that he was impressed by her dexterity. _So much for the klutz._

"So? It was only for a few months." Casey pressed on, setting the peroxide on the passenger seat and started treating the bruise.

Derek let out a sigh, fine if she wants to go down this road, "People talked Casey, that why I moved out. I wasn't going to have rumors ruin Kingston for you."

"You could've said something," was her only response, seeming more focused on working on his hand than people talking about step-siblings trading bodily fluids.

Giving her a confused look, he explained, "I was trying to avoid those famous McDonald Freak-outs of yours." _Like the one you should be having right now at hearing people think we were screwing,_ he continued in his mind, baffled at how calm she was.

Finished cleaning his knuckles, Casey dropped the cottons, picked up the wrap, and started winding it around Derek's hand. She matter factly stated, "I don't freak out, I have rational reactions. So that is when you hit him?"

"No," he replied, getting tired of the conversation bouncing between his two least favorite subjects.

"No?" she asked, ripping off the tape, smoothing the end, and began cleaning up the used medical supplies.

Derek turned and focused on Casey as he explained what happened, "He suggested that I was going to use him cheating as a way to get you in bed again and I was welcome to you as no one wants to be with a whining bitch who fucks their brother. That's when I hit him." _She wanted to know, fine, I told her. Could we change the subject now?_ "Where are they? You would think the phone going dead would have caused Nora to call half the emergency units in the Provence."

"Derek," Casey began.

He cut her off, feeling it was better to get his point across before the Freakout happened, "Look, I know that you hate the chivalrous shit and yeah, you and me are not going to happen, we would kill each other before the end of a month, but he doesn't get to say those things about you while he's fucking your cousin." _There, I said it. I've thought about us being together but know we never will._

"Derek," Casey started again, making sure she had his attention, "that's surprisingly noble coming from you, but I think the car just died."

"What?!" he turned the key and heard the _click click click_ of the car refusing to start, "NO! NO! NO! Dammit," he cursed as he slammed his palms against steering wheel. A thought occurred to him and he flipped a couple of buttons on the door panel, after nothing happening, he stated the oblivious, "And these are power windows, great."

Casey leaned forward, done with putting the kit away, "What are you trying to do?"

Derek shifted, pulled himself out of the driver seat, and climbed over to the passenger side, "Getting help, what else? Get down."

Leaning out of his way, Casey finally started acting nervous, "What? Why?"

Leveraging himself against the passenger side door and aiming his feet at the driver side window, Derek explained, "Because I'm about to break the window. It's below zero already and we can't wait for them to spot a white car buried in the snow." Gesturing at her wedding dress, he continued, "You can't go out there wearing that, so I have to." After a thought he sat up, slipped off his leather jacket, then his tuxedo jacket and passed them to Casey, "Take these."

"Aren't you going to need them?" she asked as she put the leather jacket on and zipped it up. Then she lay down on the floor, and held the tuxedo over her head.

Flashing a smirk, Derek got back into position, lifted himself up by his arms, and swung back and forth to pick up momentum, "Princess, I make my money skating on ice, this is nothing. Try to stay warm." _Crash_ went the glass. The snow and the colder temperature starting to pour in. Derek ignored them and broke more of the window away making room to pull him out.

Running over frozen ground for a few miles in negative temperatures wearing most of a tux turned out to be a little more than nothing, but Derek had made it to where the search party was forming and led them to the car before the exposure got to him. The last thing he remembered was Rebecca saying something to Casey.

Then everything went black and he was here in the hospital. The weight on his chest shifted again and said, "He really does love me." _Great, Rebecca must have told. Yeah I said somethings, but I could've taken them back. I've done it before with our moments of honesty. You think an agent would be able to keep their mouth shut. But no._

Feeling around for the switch for the light, Derek hit the call button by mistake. After a minute, a nurse and doctor came in, turning the light on as they moved inside. Derek looked down at the weight and was not surprised to see that it was Casey. Finally rousing at the brightness, she moved away from him and allowed the other medical professionals to look him over.

The doctor, named Carr of all things, poked at parts of Derek's body and said, "You're very lucky Mr. Venturi, and in more ways than one." He cast a glance at Casey. _She properly impressed him with her shop talk._ "You nicked your leg getting out of the car. Honestly I'm surprised you were able to run for as long as you did. If it wasn't for your girlfriend," again he looked at her, this time with a hint of a tease, "who I might add should be in the waiting with the rest of your family, you might have lost the leg. Now you'll just have a scar and a story to go with it."

"She's not my girl-." Derek started only to be stopped.

Casey had crossed over to him and placed her hand over his mouth, "Don't mind him; he's still confused by all the craziness surrounding the wreck."

"Uh-uh. I'll let you two have a moment." Carr could tell that something was going on, but decided to leave it be.

When they were alone, Derek shot Casey a questioning glance, "Case, why did he think you were my girlfriend?"

She sat on the side of the bed, being sure to avoid the wires, "I might have introduced myself as such." At this distance, Derek noticed that she had changed out of her dress and into an oversized t-shirt and comfortable jeans. He did a double take when he realized the t-shirt was his, one that he had been missing since his second college move.

Derek asked, "Why?" Referring to both the girlfriend comment and the t-shirt.

Casey leaned closer and started toying with his bangs, "Because maybe there could've been something to the rumors at Kingston. Maybe I heard from several reliable sources that you are in love with me and was going to try to talk me out of marrying Truman before walking in on him and Viki. And maybe, just maybe, I feel the same about you."

Derek touched her wrist and asked, "Maybe?"

Casey slipped her hand free and poked him in the chest, "Maybe. Now you'll be released tomorrow, I hope you don't have any plans for the next week because I have a honeymoon paid for in Vermont and need someone to keep me warm. You just might do." Casey then kissed Derek softly on the lips and strutted to the door, a smirk on her face and a stunned one on his.

Snapping out of the trance, Derek called after her, "Case, your wedding got ruined and you're going to spend your honeymoon with your jerkous step-brother, why are you so calm?"

Casey leaned against the door entrance, "I'm the one who invited Viki, Truman's never been good at being faithfulness or sneaky. After exposing them, I was going to marry my college roommate, but someone had to get us trapped in the snow then bled on my dress. I'm calm Venturi, because I've finally pulled a prank you can't top." After dropping that bombshell she did a dramatic kiss goodbye and slipped out the door.


	2. I Do What!

I Do What?!

Derek watched as Truman, his parents, and the rest of his extended family, plus Viki and her mother Fiona, got into their cars and left the mountain resort. They had been here for a wedding, but the bride had decided not to marry the cheating bastard after finding him with her cousin, again. _Okay Derek, what now?_

The question sent him back to the events that had led to the groom's party being ejected from the mountain resort. He had only come here to convince the klutzy bride that she was making a mistake. Well that, and he's also a member of the bridal party; the bride's step-brother. That was the only reason why this could never be their wedding. He still hates his father for that.

On the other hand, if his dad had never married Nora, Marti wouldn't have any sisters and he would never meet the only woman who could challenge his alpha status. Casey was perfect, she still is, but those first few years were possibly the happiest time of his life. He could never again get away with being lazy or con his way out of trouble without her catching on, merely trying had in the end been the true fun.

After high school, things were looking up with them moving to Kingston. Under a different roof, with no one else from London, the walls between Casey and him started to come down. They set aside Wednesday nights as their time to spend together, watching movies, hockey games (Derek's ideas of fun), going to lectures, and the theater (Casey's ideas of fun). He rarely sat on the recliner, finding seating on the couch with Casey falling asleep on him more enjoyable. Hell, his PDA rule might have been on the way out the window when things between them were forced to change.

After getting dumped by another girlfriend halfway through his third year, that seemed to happen a lot to him in college, not so much from when he moved out, but it appeared to be an almost weekly event for a while there; he asked her what the problem was. She answered by saying that she wasn't going to be a third wheel with him and his 'sister'. This confused him until he asked his team mates, then he was horrified. Somehow the idea had gotten around that Casey and he were in an open relationship; that she didn't mind him dating other girls because at the end he would always come back to her.

Reluctantly, Derek had decided to move out. He hadn't wanted to, but he refused to let rumors stop Casey from finding and keeping her Mr. Right. He didn't say anything to anyone until summer vacation, by that time having saved up enough to get a place. Their reactions were mixed. Dad and Nora were happy that he was showing responsibility. Marti and Robbie seemed confused, asking how this would affect the daisies. He still doesn't know what they were talking. Edwin and Lizzie seemed afraid, like Derek being on his own could ruin their futures.

Casey was the hardest. Catching him entering his room that night, she asked for a minute, got a yes, sat on the corner of the bed, and with a look of hurt had asked, "Did I do something wrong?" Like he was putting an end to their blooming friendship.

He had just pulled her up into a hug, a real hug, and told her, "Some people got the wrong idea about us, Princess. I can't let that stop you from meeting your prince."

Her reply was confusing, or maybe Derek just chose to find it that way, "What if the right guy isn't out there?" The way she said it made him think that she might be implying that he could the right guy for her just by being there. Derek had almost kissed her there and then, but decided he had imagined it, told her good night, grabbed his towel, and tried to get the shower to run out of cold water.

He kept busy that last year, earning a degree in business to balance out his signing with the Oilers. While he didn't have time to date, he made sure to keep in touch with Casey, their Wednesdays unchanged by the move. First by getting her to act as Nora's stand in to decorate his cramp apartment, then as her tutor, having proved that even in college he was better than her in math. As he had hoped, Casey's love life took off with him out of the picture, and she would talk about the latest guy in her life when they met up each week.

At graduation, little changed with Casey moving right on to medical school then her vocation as a hear surgeon and Derek beginning his hockey career. When they couldn't meet, they would trade e-mails and texts. Again, Derek was pleased that Casey was dating but he was becoming concerned that she seemed to be treating it more like auditions for short one act plays than the search for someone she could spend the rest of her life with.

And he reached his peak when she revealed that she was engaged to Truman. The second he heard this, he caught a plane out to Vancouver and confronted her in person. He listed all the ways Truman had done her wrong, including kissing her cousin, and asked if she was really willing to risk the pain of going through that again.

Casey's answer had been weird, "Don't worry D, I'm marrying the man I love. He makes me happy and all the heartache was worth it." It way she said it, with the brightest smile on her face that he had ever seen.

He wouldn't say something that might remove it, he just gave her a half hug and said, "Okay, but if he screws this up, I'm going to kick his ass."

Casey had simply chuckled, "That would be a sight to see," returned the hug, and just seemed to be brimming with joy. Derek didn't trust Truman, but he did trust Casey.

So he was a little surprised when going to talk to Casey, deciding that it was worth the risk to ask her to reconsider, that he heard sounds of heavy breathing and moans. Following the noise, he discovered that it was coming from speakers spread around the resort. After a moment, he realized that it was Viki with Truman. With most of the wedding party, he hunted down the cheating pair; finding them fighting with the door which had apparently gotten jammed during their activity.

It was at this time that Casey had come out of her room, having finished getting ready for the ceremony. Her reaction when told what had happened was astonishingly calm. She simply asked Truman and his family to leave. They tried to protest, but she reminded them that she was the one paying for the wedding and if they didn't like it they could spend their own money staying here. This was news to Derek, who quickly got another shock when Truman countered that she was the one who proposed so she must have been really desperate to get married.

Derek almost reacted then, but Sam, Ralph, and Edwin acted first by grabbing the former groom to be, collecting his things, and carried him to a waiting car. The rest of Truman's family and friends quickly followed suit. The best part was when Fiona, Viki's mother, tried to spin this, Nora and Lizzie had calmly informed her that she could leave with her daughter as both were no longer welcome there.

"Could this night get any worse?" Casey's words bring him back to the present. He saw her rubbing her exposed arms, trying to keep warm out on the balcony that gave them a breathtaking view of the Canadian mountain range as well as the sight of the very public walk of shame that they had just been witnessed.

Derek answered, "You could've married the cheating bastard, Princess." He cast a side glance as he asked this, taking in the sight of his step-sister. Her hair was held in a bun by silver pins done to look like scalpels. Her gown was pure snow white with heart shaped lace that hugged her neck and the other curves of her upper body; the lower half was puffy and stopped just above her ankles. _How much must she had spent on this nightmare of a wedding? The custom dress, the resort, the catering, this could easily be an annual salary for me._ When she shivered again, he stopped thinking about the expanses and pulled her back into the room and closed the doors.

Giving him a confused look, as she moved around the room, collecting her Mary Jane heels, "Of course not." Casey almost seemed chipper as she glided back over to him, her years of dancing clear in the light steps that she made. Derek hoped she didn't notice the look of joy as he took to admiring her still perfect dancer's figure, him being glad that she had been able to keep it up as a hobby.

Offering her an arm to steady herself as she took off the pink bunny slippers and put on the heels; he asked, "So, now what? You got most of our friends and family here and no wedding. I love the break from the paparazzi, but I can't stay here forever."

Absentmindedly threading her arm into his, she said, "I got everything under control. The caters know to wait an extra hour, the resort staff are rearranging the ballroom for the smaller amount of guests, all I need to do is find a groom before we get to the ballroom."

"And you expect one to suddenly appear? Case, we're the only ones here. You rented the whole resort for this." Derek was confused by her lack of freak out and why she seemed convinced that there was still going to be a wedding. But he allowed her to guide him out of her room and down the hall.

Stiffening a little, Casey demanded, "Who put you in charge of my love life?" Oddly enough, she didn't stop. In fact, she stepped up her pace a little.

"Someone has to be, Case," was his reply, quickly matching her stride and started to wonder where the fire was.

"And that someone is you?" was hers, making him forget for a second that she was heading towards the ballroom expecting to find Mr. Right along the way.

"Yes." He deadpanned.

"Why is that?" Of course she would use her beautiful keener mind to try and find out why he had always tried to find problems with her boyfriends.

Derek turned to Casey and forced out the well-rehearsed reason. "I have an invested interest; I'm... your step-brother." Stick to the facts Venturi, don't tell her that you hate that this wasn't your wedding day.

Stopping at the entrance of the ballroom, Casey turned and gave him a once over, straightening his tie and combing his hair with a comb that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Yes, you are. But so is Edwin and he has never been as rough on my boyfriends as you.

Catching her eye, Derek answered, "Nuh-uh McDonald, you're not putting this on me. I'm not the one who dates jerks. Your taste in men leaves something to be desired."

"Like your taste in women is any better? By the way, your date Rebecca was hitting on one of the waitresses when I last saw her," was her response. Satisfied with his appearance they continued into the ballroom.

This caused Derek to chuckle, "Good for her." As they entered the ballroom, he heard music playing. It was an odd melody that he didn't recognize. A jazz number, as best he could tell, it sounded like a saxophone and a piano that would clash in competition before merging into a pleasant duet; it felt familiar somehow.

"Good for her?" Casey asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Rebecca needs a rebound pound after getting dumped," he explained. Looking around the room he saw that most of the chairs had been removed and the few that remained had been set around less than a dozen round tables. The guests looked up and were unsurprised to see that they were fighting.

"You dumped your date at a wedding where she doesn't know anyone, real classy Derek. Maybe you and Truman can join a club for assholes." Casey responded, a hint of disgust in her voice.

He answered. "I'm not that much of a bastard, Casey. Rebecca's a friend who needed to get away from her life and I wasn't going to your wedding alone."

"Alone? How can a CHL All Star not get a date?" his comment confusing her.

Turning to stare Casey in the eye, he carefully explained, "By not looking."

Becoming more confused, Casey asked, "Not looking? Derek I've seen the people you hang out with, rock stars, movie stars, pop icons. There is no way that you've ignored all of them." Derek could tell from her face that she knew he was telling the truth, her Derek Bullshit Meter having been honed from their years of rivalry.

"Yes there is."Derek replied amending in his mind _I never got over you._ He glanced away from her, not wanting her to see the look of regret on his face.

"Dammit! I dropped my ring; could you grab it?" Derek had at the moment been watching their friends and family watching them. He didn't want to see the aqua blue of Casey's eyes focusing on a puzzle, something he had discovered as very alluring to him. So he was glad for the excuse to avoid looking her in eye while they talked and picked the ring back up.

Sam moved in front of them, to try and get them to calm down, "Okay, let's get to the point with you two."

Casey gestured to the ring, "Mind putting it on. The nails make it hard to handle."

Sam shook his head as Derek slipped the precious stoned ring onto Casey's finger. "You care for Derek?"

Casey gave a chuckle, "I might need my head examined, but I do."

Turning to Derek, he asked, "And you care about Casey, right?"

Derek looked back at Sam with an annoyed expression on his face. Sam very well knew the answer as Venturi would sometimes get drunk with his childhood friend and then wax not-so-poetically about Casey and the sad situation they were forced to be in. He said as much, "What do you think?"

Casey gave Derek an uneased look and said, "Derek, Sam's just trying to help. You don't have to be rude."

Derek turned to the woman he wanted more than anything and exploded, the excitement of the ruined wedding and eerie calm of his family and friends finally getting to him, "Yes! I care about you! I only came here to talk you out of marrying Prince Not-So-Charming, and now I'm trying to figure out why everyone is so calm about there being no wedding."

Casey shot back, "So you really care about me, no childish takebacks?"

Derek threw his hands in the air, and barked out, "Yes. I. Do."

Casey grabbed his left hand with both of hers, gave it a squeeze, and turned to Sam, "Work for you?"

Sam, for his part, just laughed and said, "Good enough, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Derek whipped his head back to his friend and said, "What?!"

Sam, having started to move out of the blast zone, just gestured to beside Derek and said, "Ask your wife."

Turning to Casey, he saw that she had turned back into her old high school neurotic self, the girl he had fallen in love with before she had grown into the confident heart surgeon that he was just arguing/flirting with. Her hold on his hand was a vice grip, seeming afraid that he might bolt at any second. Her eyes were begging him to stay. Derek felt that he had to choose his next words carefully as they may very well decide whether the girl or the woman would answer them. As if there wasn't enough pressure, he also noticed that everything had gone quiet, waiting for his reaction. "Casey, why did Sam just call you my wife?

Casey leaned closer and started toying with his bangs with one hand, the remaining one that clutched his increasing its hold as the woman slowly returned, "Because maybe there was something to the rumors at Kingston. Maybe I heard from several reliable sources that you are in love with me and was going to try to talk me out of marrying Truman. And maybe, just maybe, I feel the same about you."

Derek touched her wrist and asked, "Maybe?"

Casey slipped her hand free and poked him in the chest, "Maybe. I hope you don't have any plans for the next week because I have a honeymoon paid for in Vermont and need someone to keep me warm. You just might do." Casey then kissed Derek softly on the lips, a smirk on her face and a stunned one on his.

Derek let her pull away after a moment, still not sure what to make of the craziness of the day. If he believed Casey, then not only had she shared his feelings and hinted at a passionate future, but she had gotten together with their friends and family to trick him into admitting those feelings publicly in a probably not legally binding wedding. "What about Viki and Truman? Your cousin and your fiancé get hot and heavy at your wedding only to be exposed in surround sound. That's more like a Venturi style prank, not a McDonald public telling off."

Casey leaned against him, her hold softening as she threaded her fingers into his, "I've had practice. I was the one behind the Kington rumors, telling each girl about our relationship. When you moved out, I tried dating guys to get a rise out of you. After that didn't work, I got Truman involved as I know you hate him and he has never been good at being faithfulness or sneaky. I had to spend some time with Viki for things to heat back up between them but it was worth it. Yes it's petty, but I wanted revenge for them hurting me and others with their philandering, so I subjected them to some public embarrassment. Then as proof of my skill, I married my college roommate. I'm a McDonald in love with a Venturi like my mother and my sister; we do what we have to keep them." As she spoke she lifted their entwined hands to reveal the matching bands on their wedding fingers and gestured at the table where their parents and siblings sat, each holding the hand of their significant other and looking at the new couple with approval.

Derek couldn't help but laugh as everyone shouted, "Queen takes Jerk. Finally."


	3. You Just Had to Ask

Riding to the reception with new wife Casey McDonald-Venturi, her sister, the new Lizzie McDonald-Venturi, and his brother, Edwin Venturi-McDonald (the Venturi brothers had lost the coin toss of switching or hyphening their names) the older Venturi kept playing Lizzie's words over in his head: "For ten years, you never strayed, you were never with anyone else, even your first wife Bonnie. You have only been Winnie for me."

Finally thinking. _Screw It_ , Derek leaned forward and asked the younger couple, "Why Winnie." Pointing to Lizzie, he said, "Betty makes sense, but Winnie doesn't." Focusing on the weaker of the pair, he continued, "She could have called you Ed, Vennie, Tory, anything but Winnie. So, what's the story?"

Casey had been reading an article on the newest IPad that Derek had given her as a wedding present, but hearing him ask something that she had been curious about made her put it down. She wasn't sure that he would get any better of an answer than when she had asked. Lizzie having slyly saying that it was well earned but nothing more.

Edwin shifted uncomfortably in the back of the limo. He wasn't sure how to answer. If he told the truth, once the shock wore off, Derek won't let up with the jokes. If he lied, Derek would know something was up until he found out. "Hmm, something I like to do with Lizzie, okay." _How does he do it? One question and I feel like I'm back in middle school._

Derek hiked an eyebrow, "In the bedroom?" Enjoying the sight of his kid brother squirm, he leaned even closer with a smirk forming on his lips. He had been good all day; Casey couldn't get too mad, could she? "Do tell."

Now Casey was getting uneasy. There were things that a couple should keep between themselves, bedroom activities being one of them. Firmly squeezing the hand that was intertwined with her husband and the father of their little girl DJ, she warned, "D, maybe we should leave this alone."

This response was all that Lizzie needed. Casey and Derek's refusal to start a relationship had caused hers and Edwin's to stall out. Her childhood friend turned soul mate's hero worship of his older brother making him unsure if their love could survive their families' reactions to them being together. Six years of happiness had turned into eleven years of heartache. So, they might as well know what they had interrupted. Putting on her biggest grin, she was now a Venturi after all, she grabbed Edwin by his shoulders and shook him as she declared, "This man loves my honey pot."

Her statement had different effects on the other passengers. Casey paled a little, tried to go back to reading about new innovations with robotic surgery, and was glad that DJ was riding with her mother Nora. The last thing she wanted was to try and explain to the two year what Aunt Lizzie was talking about. Edwin looked sheepishly at the ground, trying to hide his grin. _It wasn't as bad as people would make you believe and it always got Lizzie in the mood_ , he thought. He was worried about how Derek would use this against him, but surely, he would give him a break on their wedding day.

Derek just leaned back, the smile on his face threatening to split his face. _Oh, I am going to have fun with this._ He'll let them off for now, but he was already thinking of how he could use this. Noticing the paleness on Casey's face, he knew what he could say that would bring some color back to it. Grabbing her hand with both of his, he leaned in and whispered, "We could tell them the other reason I call you 'Your Highness'"

Trapping her hand had been a good idea, it prevented her from slapping him. Sadly, she was holding the IPad with the other one. Wailing onto him, she gave the much heard, "Der-ek! You just had to ask."

 _What_ , Derek thought as he dodged around the limo, _It had stopped her from just lying there and she does love to be in control._


End file.
